370 Quotes by Sabaa Tahir

In the end, I don’t answer her question. She doesn’t answer mine. Instead, we sit without words, watching the city, the river, the desert beyond, our secrets heavy between us.

You humans give your loyalty so willingly for just a little hope.

There is success,” I say. “And there is failure. The land in between is for those too weak to live. Duty first, unto death.

But I’m not strong. I’m weak, and I’m sick of pretending I’m not.

For the Beloved who woke with the dawning of the world is no more. And for a single, anguished moment, the earth itself mourns him.

Ah, no, my love.” He gathers me close. “You cannot go first. I could not make sense of the world if you did.

I throw her over my shoulder.

For me, Elias, desire is not simple. It is not shelter. It is not warmth. It is a fire that offers no light, only heat, ruinous and consuming. The longer you deny it, the hotter it burns. You forget shelter. You forget warmth. There is only that which you want and cannot have, and the desolation that follows.

Life is hard enough without having to avoid entire rooms in my own head.